Custom Classic Trucks - Readers' Trucks

Editor's Note: Getting your truck into Readers' Trucks is a snap, of the camera, that is. All it takes is a stack of good-quality photos of your ride that are in focus and well lit. Due to the volume of mail we receive, we regret that we cannot return photographs. Send photos of your truck (no Polaroids or printouts) to: CCT, Readers' Trucks, 774 S. Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870. It is important that you include a detailed description of the modifications you have made to your truck, including any interesting stories behind it.

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Stainless Is The GameAnd now a word from one of our sponsors, a loyal reader by the name of Cliff Colsten from Phoenix, Arizona:

"This 1931 chopped Ford truck is a product of a lifetime of building, rebuilding, restoring, and trading up vehicles. The truck was formerly a shop truck in Indiana, complete with logos on the rear quarters. My first and only step was to strip the truck and repaint it with nine coats of base, color, and clear. The paint itself is quite something. It's a combination of red and orange creating copper highlights wherever the sun glistens. There are ghost flames on the hood, fender, and doors.

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"The rest of the truck was finished; all I had to do was clean and detail the truck using just about every Mothers product available, due to the many one-off polished stainless steel features, including the interior, console, body trim, bed cover, air cleaner, header covers, fan shroud, radiator valance, flamed running boards, and more. The truck also has a beer keg gas tank and a battery mounted in the wood bed.

"Up front are disc brakes at each end of the Pete And Jake's tube axle. The back suspension is a four-link with chrome coilovers. It also has '39 taillights in the fenders as well as the stainless bed lights. Under the dash are lights that make the interior glow blue. For power, the truck has a 350 Chevy backed by a Turbo 350 tranny.

"Although I cannot take pride in the building of this truck, I feel fortunate just to marvel over others' exquisite craftsmanship."

And don't we all.

Blue-Light SpecialEven if K-Mart held a blue light-special sale, they couldn't price-match what Adam Miller of Otwelt, Indiana, paid for his truck! Four years ago Adam threw down four Benjamins and the '72 Chevy was all his. From there he tore the truck down and started from the frame up. Any body pieces that needed to be replaced made their way from LMC Truck. His good pal Mark Jones finessed the body and sprayed it in PPG Caribbean Turquoise and white. Between the framerails sits a 383 stroker motor that originally started life as a 350 from a '69 Vette. Adam also installed SRP flat-top pistons, Dart Iron Eagle heads, Crane roller rockers, and an Edelbrock intake manifold and carburetor, as well as a lot of chrome. Now that's what we call bargain shopping!

Like Father, Like SonIt took six years for Larry Jacobs and his son Lee to finish their '48 Panel, but once it was done, it was off and running. In fact, Larry and his wife just completed a 2,000-mile six-state vacation in the Panel, dubbed Root Beer Float.

The father/son team started with an original frame and went from there. They installed a Buick posi-rearend with disc brakes in the rear. Up front, they capped things off with a Mustang II setup complete with disc brakes and power steering. In terms of sheetmetal work, the first order of business was a new floor. From there they shaved the handles and reworked the running boards. Out back, they reworked the butterfly doors to open as one, and they installed frenched-in Caddy taillights along with a Desoto rear bumper. The stock front end was replaced with a fiberglass tilt front end. The interior isn't quite finished, but the L-squared team has fabbed a custom dash with frenched gauges. The only thing farmed out was the paint and graphics; other than that, it was just an old-fashioned father and son project.